The Sheila Variations

Ingrid Bergman ...

... is the focus of this week's Monday Glamour Series.

I liked this part:

The 125,000 he got for her services in Casablanca translated to 35,000 for Bergman, plus a show she had little interest in making. The one she wanted was For Whom The Bell Tolls, itself the very definition of prestige filmmaking in literary-conscious Hollywood. Her campaign for that lead was relentless, as was Selznick’s, but Paramount was stubbornly committed to its own Vera Zorina. As an actress, she was a great ballet dancer, as star Gary Cooper and director Sam Wood discovered after a few unproductive weeks on location. Now Paramount was ready to do business with Selznick for Bergman (well, after all, Vera, for every winner, there’s got to be a loser). When Ingrid got the call on a Casablanca soundstage, she let out a whoop. Had she but known history’s ultimate verdict on these two. For Whom The Bell Tolls would sink beneath the weight of its tedium and over-length, while Casablanca would follow Bergman like grim death as the (perhaps only) one everybody asked about. Her love/hate relationship with Casablanca points up the irony of lives spent on celluloid. You do fifty, or even a hundred, and in the end, they all remember you for a single one. For Janet Leigh, it was Psycho. For Ingrid Bergman, Casablanca. Both must have grown sick of those broken records.

Bergman thought Casablanca was ridiculous - and Bogey did, too - and for the first week or so of shooting, the two of them would sit and commiserate about how miserable they were, and how chaotic it was (no script ending, etc.) - they thought they were in a dud. Bergman also said that nobody in their right mind would ever believe that she was supposed to be the most beautiful woman in the world. "I'm a milkmaid. I'm a big girl. I'm not what they say I am."

And then it's funny to see her in For Whom the Bell Tolls - which is a ridiculous film, especially if you've read the book - like: if you only watched the movie, you would think the entire Spanish Civil War was about blowing up one bridge. You also would have no idea WHY the bridge had to be blown up. Or what the hell was going on. They took all the politics out of it - and basically had Greek and Italian and, uhm, Swedish actors - playing Spanish peasants who ... for some reason .... wanted to blow up a bridge. Heh heh. Ridiculous. But still: EXTREMELY enjoyable because of the love story. The performances are all excellent - and I think Cooper and Bergman do have great chemistry.

Another funny story: Bergman and Cooper had an affair during the shooting of that film. Bergman has since said that it impacted her performance - that she was WAY too happy to be believable - her happiness offscreen bled into her acting - and she's playing a peasant girl who had been raped repeatedly and lost her entire family - and there she is mooning about Gary Cooper, literally GLOWING at him with happiness. (She sure does glow, doesn't she??) But anyway - Bergman and Cooper were both notorious for having affairs with their leading men/ladies ... and Bergman fell WILDLY in love with Cooper. But it only lasted for the duration of the shoot. Cooper said later, "Nobody has ever been as much in love with me as Ingrid Bergman was. But a week after we wrapped the movie, I couldn't even get her on the phone." hahaha

Bergman did NOT have an affair with Bogey, though - who, although he was a womanizer - was always monogamous with whatever wife he was with. The two of them were just partners in crime, trying to survive this horrible movie they were in together.

And it turned out to be Casablanca. I love that. You just never ever know. And you're not MEANT to know. Just do your work, show up, do the best you can ... and time will be the one that will decide, history will tell, the audience will choose ... it's not for you to know.

And I agree that she was denounced from the floor of the Senate not for her immorality - after all: where was the outrage about, oh, Mary Astor? Or Jean Harlow? Or Clara Bow? Or any of the other shenanigan-ridden stars? It was that they felt BETRAYED. Betrayed by her PERSONALLY. Ingrid Bergman was supposed to be wholesome. They believed in the fantasy. They counted on the fantasy and then felt totally betrayed by what they saw as her treacherous immorality. Well, that's THEIR problem for having believed in the fantasy created by her ACTING PARTS. Ridiculous.

Cary Grant was the only friend who stuck by her in those many years when she was exiled. He called her on occasion, just to see how she was doing ... and spoke out about her when asked. "She's a lovely woman, and I consider her a good friend." Full stop. End of story.

Good man. A class act.

And Bergman got her revenge. She's one of the immortals now. Nobody remembers the mental midgets who ran her out of town on a rail ... but everybody remembers Ingrid Bergman.

So go read the post. It's only Part 1 ... so check back for Part 2!

Posted by sheila